According to the remarks made by Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the ECB, published within the press release of the European Central Bank, in recent months, incoming euro area data have continued to be weak and the economy has grown below expectations. That is, euro area real GDP increased by 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter of 2018 (according to preliminary estimates), which was slightly up from 0.1% in the quarter before, but well below the 0.4% growth observed in the first half of 2018.
Economic developments in the euro area
